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From YouTube: EJI Presentation: Buncombe Community Remembrance Project Historical Markers' Installation Ceremony
Description
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A
B
Thank
you
so
much
dr
fox
good
morning.
Everyone,
my
name,
is
kiana.
I'm
a
justice,
fellow
at
the
equal
justice
initiative,
and
I,
along
with
my
colleagues,
theon
and
kayla,
are
really
pleased
to
be
here
with
you
all
today
to
join
you
in
dedicating
these
three
very
important
and
permanent
educational
tools
in
the
community.
B
The
equal
justice
initiative
is
a
human
rights
organization
dedicated
to
ending
mass
incarceration
and
challenging
racial
and
economic
injustice
in
our
society.
We
were
originally
founded
in
1989
when
our
executive,
director
attorney
brian
stevenson,
came
to
montgomery
alabama,
where
we're
based
to
defend
people
on
alabama's
death
row
we're
an
anti-death
penalty
organization.
We
believe
that
capital
punishment
should
not
exist,
especially
given
the
racially
discriminatory
ways
in
which
it
has
been
administered
both
historically
and
today.
B
So
after
about
20
years
of
doing
this
work,
we
realized
that,
in
order
to
effectively
address
the
racial
and
economic
injustices,
we're
seeing
with
our
clients
and
within
the
context
of
the
criminal
legal
system
that
we
were
actually
going
to
have
to
take
a
step
back
and
do
a
deeper
dive
into
our
nation's
history
of
racial
injustice,
because
because
we
believe
the
challenges
that
we're
seeing
in
the
criminal
legal
system
are
deeply
rooted
in
this
history.
And
so
in
2008
we
started
a
public
history
initiative.
B
The
national
memorial
for
peace
and
justice
stands
in
memory
of
the
over
4
400
victims,
black
victims
of
racial
terror,
lynching
between
the
end
of
reconstruction
in
1877
and
1950,
and
the
legacy
museum
traces,
the
history
of
enslavement,
all
the
way
to
present
day
mass
incarceration.
So
I'm
going
to
hand
over
to
kayla
to
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
this
history.
C
This
history
and
people
were
too
comfortable
with
the
really
intolerable
and
inhumane
things
that
our
clients
face
on
a
daily
basis.
And
so
that
is
what
pushed
us
to
want
to
invite
people
to
join
us
on
this
journey
of
understanding
the
history
of
racial
injustice
in
this
country
of
understanding
that
at
eji
we
believe
that
slavery
never
ended
it
simply
evolved
and
that
one
of
the
systems
that
it
evolved
into
was
the
era
of
racial
terror,
lynching,
which
is
a
time
period
where
this
myth
of
black
dangerousness.
C
This
idea
that
a
racial
democracy
was
impossible
in
the
united
states,
the
foundational
commitment
to
white
supremacy
and
racial
hierarchy
continued
when
it
didn't
have
to
and
that
continuance
led
to
between
1865
and
1877,
the
the
lynchings
of
at
least
2
000
black
people
in
an
era
where
the
the
deaths
of
black
people
were
so
poorly
documented.
C
That
means
we
have
to
also
have
a
commitment
to
ending
the
era
of
mass
incarceration,
because
today,
in
the
state
of
north
carolina,
it
is
still
possible
for
a
person
to
be
sentenced
to
death.
It
is
possible
for
a
child
as
young
as
six
to
enter
the
criminal
justice
system
and,
as
a
nation
we
have,
our
prison
population
has
bloss
has
grown
from
1972.
It
was
about
200
000
people.
Today
it
is
2.3
million.
C
If
you
include
people
who
are
on
probation
and
parole,
that
number
exceeds
7
million.
This
is
not
about
public
safety,
it
is
about
a
myth
of
black
dangerousness
that
turned
into
a
law
and
order
politics
that
today
is
on
preventing
us
from
being
safer.
So
for
people
who
wonder
and
would
like
to
believe
that,
had
they
been
alive
during
the
era
of
racial
terror,
lynching
that
they
would
have
been
insisting
that
it
ended,
they
would
have
been
with
ida
b
wells
barnett.
They
would
have
been
with
the
naacp
and
insisting
that
this
era
ends.
C
You
don't
have
to
wonder
what
you
would
have
done
if
you
lived
during
an
era
of
massive
racial
injustice,
because
you
currently
live
in
an
era
of
massive
racial
injustice.
So
the
answer
to
that
question
is
what
are
you
doing
today
and
we
believe
that
this
project
that
cion
is
going
to
talk
about
in
a
moment
is
a
really
important
step
to
really
beginning
that
process
of
repair
in
our
country.
D
Place,
hello,
everyone
thank
you
for
being
here
with
us
today,
I'm
ceon
blackwell
and
I'm
a
justice
fellow
at
the
equal
justice
initiative.
I
just
thank
my
colleague
kayla
for
really
giving
you
all
that
invitation
to
join
this
work
and
to
really
come
and
join
us
in
this
work
of
fighting
fighting
racial
injustice
in
this
era,
and
so
I'm
just
going
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
community
remembrance
project,
which
you
are
here
today
for
in
buncombe
county
and
how
this
work
has
grown
nationally
from
the
equal
justice
initiative.
D
So
it's
one
of
our
core
beliefs
that
you
have
to
be
proximate
to
this
work.
You
have
to
be
approximate
to
the
issues
of
racial
injustice
and
inequality
in
order
to
make
real
change,
and
we
believe
that
when
we
were
doing
this
research
and
we
were
documenting
over
the
6
500
victims
of
racial
terror-
lynching.
We
realized
that
this
this
history
was
local.
It
was
happening
in
individual
communities
and
people
weren't
talking
about
it.
D
They
were
distancing
themselves
from
it
and
we
realized
that
this
is
something
that
is
crucial
for
communities
individually
to
recognize
just
right
here
in
buncombe
county.
You
have
three
documented
victims
and
we
really
appreciate
the
work
that
dr
foxx
and
dr
simmons
and
everyone
on
the
bunch
of
community
members
project
has
done
this
thus
far
to
recognize
these
victims.
D
A
D
A
record
number
of
students
participate
in
the
racial
justice
essay
contest,
and
now,
for
all
of
you
being
here
today,
it's
so
wonderful
to
see
so
many
faces
here
to
recognize
these
men,
and
I
hope
you
go
on
their
journey
with
us
to
unveil
these
markers,
but
I
asked
of
you
all
to
think
about:
where
does
it
as
caleb
mentioned?
Where
do
you
go
next?
If
you
have
a
neighbor,
a
family
member
or
a
friend
who's?
Not
here
mention
these
men's
names
by
name
to
them.
D
Ask
them
what
do
they
know
these
stories
bring
them
to
these
markers
make
sure
that
they
engage
because
our
community
remembrance
work
is
a
long-term
commitment,
even
though
this
community
has
already
finished
the
three
projects
it
doesn't
end
here.
This
work
is
never
finished
because
we
are
currently
in
this
era
of
racial
injustice.
D
We
are
in
the
era
of
mass
incarceration,
and
so
I
just
ask
you
all
to
really
stay
engaged,
stay
involved
and
think
about
your
community
when
we're
doing
this
work
and
come
and
visit
us
in
montgomery,
as
well,
at
the
legacy
museum
for
massive
from
enslavement
to
mass
incarceration,
and
that's
the
national
memorial
for
peace
and
justice.
And
I
really
just
want
to
say
thank
you
again
for
being
here,
and
I
hope
that
you
really
reflect
on
this
history.
As
we
say
these
men's
names
today
and
we
go
to
these
markers.